Battle of the Bands - Sicadia, Lake High School

Friday

Feb 25, 2011 at 12:01 AMFeb 25, 2011 at 4:14 PM

In the year since that show, Sicadia (formerly known as Endless Nameless) has played shows, two a month or more, at the Outpost and JB’s in Kent, Annabell’s in Akron, Peabody’s and The Hi-Fi in Cleveland, and First Friday in Canton. And they’ve just released a self-titled album of 12 original songs.

Dan Kane

Asked what they most remember about playing in last year’s Repository Battle of the Bands to a packed Palace Theatre crowd, the members of grunge-rock power trio Sicadia reply quickly:

Annabeth Connaughy: “Major nervousness. I could barely walk afterward, I was shaking so badly.”

Matthew Smith: “Lots of adrenaline.”

Drew Wheeler: “Pizza!”

In the year since that show, Sicadia (formerly known as Endless Nameless) has played shows, two a month or more, at the Outpost and JB’s in Kent, Annabell’s in Akron, Peabody’s and The Hi-Fi in Cleveland, and First Friday in Canton. And they’ve just released a self-titled album of 12 original songs.

In terms of songwriting, “We’ve gotten a lot more collaborative,” says vocalist-guitarist Matthew Smith, who used to write everything. “I’m more excited about the new stuff on the CD.” The band has in excess of 30 original songs.

Smith and Connaughey, Sicadia’s drummer, already were friends (and Hartville neighbors) before the band was formed. They found bassist-vocalist Wheeler via a musician-seeks-band ad he’d posted on Craigslist. “He was probably the only person on there who was our age,” Smith says. “It was just a weird coincidence how we first came together.”

The trio, whose musical influences range from My Chemical Romance to Radiohead to Foo Fighters, is planning a Midwest tour this summer.

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